Samurai Maiden - Yuri energy was emanating from this game. Iyo x Tsumugi was the best!

Samurai Maiden (サムライメイデン) is an action RPG/hack-and-slash video game developed by Shade Inc. and published by D3 Publisher in 2022. Shade Inc. is a company known for building many of these budget Japanese games, such as Bullet Girls and Gun Gun Pixies, among others.

The story follows the main heroine, Tsumugi Tamamori, a normal Japanese high school student who gets transported into the middle of the Honno-ji Incident during the Sengoku Era. There, she meets Nobunaga and three kunoichi who, like her, are on a quest to save the world from the resurrected Demon Lord.

Apparently, Nobunaga does not die there as history says he should. Instead, he is lured into becoming the new Demon Lord. Tsumugi and the others fight through hordes of enemies as they try to chase him down before he can reach his goal, facing increasingly powerful enemies attempting to stop them in their tracks.

The series leans heavily into the yuri innuendo between Tsumugi and the other three kunoichi, showing small moments of flirting from time to time, even if nothing really materializes by the end of the series. Kisses are even used as a ritual to become stronger during gameplay sections.

The four main characters are:

Tsumugi Tamamori, the protagonist of the story. She says she is a normal high school girl, but thanks to her grandfather's kendo training, she can actually proficiently use the sword she obtains at the beginning of the story to slay demons and the like. Her grandfather wants her to take over his dojo.

Iyo, an experienced Sengoku-era kunoichi who works as a retainer for Nobunaga at the beginning of the story. She almost immediately becomes fond of Tsumugi (calling her "Onee-sama") and uses every opportunity to get close to her. She specializes in ninja weaponry like bombs and kunai.

Hagane, a cyborg with a large metallic arm. She is open and forward when showing her affection to Tsumugi, often taking the latter by surprise. She may look superficial at first glance, but it is just a facade she puts up in front of others. Her abilities are all linked to her android form, such as extending and electrifying her arm.

Komimi, a small girl with animal ears and a tail. She is very confident but easily angered if anyone points out anything related to her size. She is a master Onmyouji and is able to use various types of magic in battle. She wields a giant hammer as her weapon of choice.

I don't think I have any character that I like more than the others in this series. They all fit well within the tropes they were designed for, and all of them had enough time to shine within the story. If I had to choose one, I would probably pick Tsumugi because of her outstanding character design.

The gameplay can be summarized as a "musou" game, so you can expect Tsumugi and the other girls to go through throngs of enemies that are not individually strong, but when piled up together, they become a force to be reckoned with. From time to time, there are a few bosses that require learning patterns to fight.

The game was flawed from the start with performance issues on lower-end hardware due to the extremely high requirements compared to the quality of animation and models it offers. There were various workarounds online that may or may not work for you if you have a lower-end device. The game itself worked fine without any issue on my 2025 high-end machine.

If you want a simple story with mindless gameplay, this game is a good choice. Just don't expect much depth from the mechanics.